AFL Round 20 – What Did We Learn?

Western Bulldogs were in trouble last week after further injuries to midfielders Tom Liberatore and Jack McCrae. This did not trouble them against North Melbourne as they pulled off an impressive win to keep their top 4 hopes alive.

This was a gutsy win as they have plenty of injuries but players like Marcus Bontempelli, Matthew Boyd, Lachie Hunter and Lake Dahlhaus lead their team to a 14 point victory. Now they have to do it again when they play Collingwood this Friday night. They will be looking to continue their winning form and with the game being at Ethiad Stadium, they should be able to get the 4 points.

Josh Kennedy is the key for West Coast if they want to make an impact in finals

West Coast have not been in great form recently and had to work hard for their win over Fremantle. It was a close game for the majority of the match but then Josh Kennedy stood up and kicked 7 goals to help blow the margin to 46 points and finish best on ground.

He was dominate up forward as he usually does in most games and was able to kick a bag in the Derby. If West Coast have any chance of getting far in finals, then Josh Kennedy will need to kick bags of goals and guide his team to finals victories.

Melbourne are building for a potential finals campaign next season

Melbourne recorded their biggest win of the season by knocking off top placed Hawthorn by 29 points. Their midfield was brilliant all game, led by ruckman Max Gawn and midfielders Nathan Jones and Jack Viney. Jack Watts continued last week’s great form with 3 goals to help Melbourne claim a big scalp.

This is a win that Melbourne needed to show not only the public but themselves that they can play great footy against arguably the best team and to show they are on the right track. They are building for next season where they can potentially makes finals and with this game style they have employed, it is possible.

Percentage boosting wins are important for teams vying for the top 8

The top 4 cannot get any closer right now. There are as many as 7 teams that can make the top 4. It is essential that these teams get wins but gaining percentage from those wins could be the difference between finishing in the top 4 or missing out.

The Adelaide Crows were 5th before their game and now are 3rd after winning by 138 points against Brisbane. GWS only just beat Gold Coast by 8 points and as a result, fell from 2nd to 4th. Geelong beat Essendon by 66 points but are still behind on percentage and currently sit in 5th place. Percentage is so important right now so these last 3 games are opportunities for these teams to gain as much percentage as possible to give themselves the double chance in this year’s finals.

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We may not play it, but we can talk about it- we’ll provide a different take on the world of sport.
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